


What We Stand For

by scrollgirl



Category: Agent Carter (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Backstory, Bechdel Test Pass, Gen, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-15
Updated: 2013-05-15
Packaged: 2017-12-11 22:39:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/804035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrollgirl/pseuds/scrollgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's no coincidence that Peggy gave the paramilitary and espionage organization she co-founded a ridiculously long name that'd be shortened to "SHIELD".</p>
            </blockquote>





	What We Stand For

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to write a "Peggy and Howard found SHIELD" backstory ever since I saw _Captain America_ in theatres. This isn't quite it, but the _Agents of SHIELD_ [official trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3T-evQZiQo) convinced me to at least take a stab at it. Spoilers for the trailer in the end notes.

For Peggy, the war ends in a cool spring rain that refreshes the London air. She receives an offer from the Secret Intelligence Service, which she finds flattering even in her deep melancholy, and she's nearly tempted to accept. Ultimately, she politely declines the posting and books a flight to New York instead.

For Howard, the war ends in the dusty heat of a Manhattan summer. He returns from the Pacific in late August, pared down to the bone by drink and nerves and sea sickness. "We ended it, Carter," he tells her with a rictus grin. " _We_ did."

She gets him spectacularly drunk, pouring twenty-year-old scotch down his throat until he's moaning incoherently, face down on the Oriental rug. After he passes out, she lifts a glass to the man he once was, to the woman she's lost her chance to become, and a world that will never again be the same. 

After Japan surrenders and World War II ends in victory for the Allies, the Strategic Scientific Reserve is evaluated and determined to be no longer an efficient use of resources. Despite protests from Colonel Phillips and a few others in the military that are reluctant to disband the Howling Commandos and the team of scientists that Howard's whipped into shape, the SSR is put on the chopping block and its personnel reassigned. Seeing the writing on the wall, Phillips puts in for retirement. The Commandos are sent home with the rest of the boys. Some of the team even move on with their lives in a way that Peggy can't seem to manage: Falsworth receives a promotion and takes a position with the Ministry of Defence; Dernier returns to his village in the outskirts of Lyon, determined to help with the rebuilding; Morita leaves the army out of bitterness over his family's detention in a concentration camp during the war, and over the death toll in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Peggy suspects that he will never forgive Howard for his part in the bombings, and the passing decades will prove her right.

In the end, they are five in attendance at that first meeting: she and Howard, Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones, and Lizzy Lorraine, who shows up unexpectedly and gets through the door on the strength of Colonel Phillips' letter of recommendation. She quickly proves herself a valuable asset to the group. She is charming, clever, and politically-savvy, yet meticulous to a fault, and Peggy finds herself rather liking the other woman despite Lorraine's penchant for calling her "sweetie" and batting her lashes at every man in the room.

But once the group settles in Howard's study, the flirtations subside and the conversation turns to more serious matters. There is one matter, in particular, that requires their urgent consideration.

"Have we received orders about what to do with the cube?" Lorraine asks.

"President Truman has given me authorization to begin testing once the new lab is built. Problem is, my current Army liaison doesn't have the necessary security clearance to set it up."

"Stark, you can't be serious," Gabe protests. "That thing is _dangerous_. I say we throw it in the Mariana Trench and be done with it."

"Whoa there, Jonesy," says Dum Dum, shaking his head. "Maybe I'm bein' overly superstitious, but a thing like that… I don't wanna know what it'd get up to by itself, nobody keeping an eye on it. What was it Zola said about the folks the Red Skull stole it from? They were some kind of pagan cult, Odin worshippers that kept the cube hidden for centuries. Maybe we oughta set up somethin' like that."

Peggy raises an eyebrow at the suggestion. "A secret society? Well, it's certainly an idea. I agree that we can't leave the Tesseract unprotected, whether it's an object of science or the supernatural. There are enough rumours of its existence that it will only be a matter of time before someone like Schmidt comes looking."

Gabe snorts. "Again, I say the Mariana Trench. Drop it in, let the currents take it away. Honestly, Stark, I don't know why you didn't just leave the thing where you found it."

"It was a salvage operation," Howard drawls, tossing back three fingers of Glenfiddich. "The whole point is finders, keepers, not to toss scientific marvels like the Tesseract back in the water like undersized trout."

"Hey, I'm just saying I'd rather the cube stay out of reach forever than try to keep it safe with just the five of us."

"Don't kid yourself, Jones. We're building bigger and better submarines, and so are the Soviets. Nothing's out of reach forever, even if it _is_ at the bottom of the ocean." They fall silent for a moment, weighed down by the terrible knowledge that their friend is lost beneath the waves of the North Atlantic and has not yet been found.

But there is nothing to be done on that front that isn't already being done, and while Peggy longs for Steve, misses him desperately and quietly mourns the life they should have had together, she knows there is nothing for it but to keep on keeping on. She wants to honour his memory. They all do.

Peggy clears her throat and lays out everything she has been thinking for the last several months. "If we're to keep the Tesseract safe, if we're to study it, we'll need to set protocols in place. We'll need more personnel, more funding."

"They shut down the SSR too soon," Lorraine says quietly, practically reading her mind.

"Peggy, darling, you know I'm more than happy to fund this initiative…"

"We need the mandate from your government, or mine, not just someone with deep pockets. I won't do this without authorization, Howard." 

"I'm with Peggy," says Dum Dum, smoothing down his moustache. "I don't mind playing secret agent so long's my commander-in-chief is the one giving me orders. Gabe?"

"Yeah, I'm in. Wouldn't want my German to get rusty." He smiles at Lorraine. "What about you, Lizzy?"

"You couldn't keep me out if you tried."

Howard tips his glass at Peggy. "We'll need to find a new name, something catchy to develop our brand."

"Our brand? What's wrong with Strategic Scientific Reserve?" she asks.

"Eh, it's a bit dull, don't you think? We have to consider how the name will play in Washington, and internationally. We need to strike fear in the hearts of villains like Red Skull, bastards who think they can use the Tesseract to conquer the world."

Gabe rolls his eyes, but Dum Dum frowns thoughtfully. "I've got it. 'Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law Enforcement Division'."

They all stare at him with various expressions of distaste. "That's atrocious!" Lorraine exclaims. "I refuse to work for a spy agency with such a silly name."

"Well, we'd shorten it, of course! Use the initials and call it SHIELD."

There's a lump in Peggy's throat, all of a sudden. "Shield? As in…"

Dugan scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, I figure he'd like that. That shield was his real weapon, not the Colt. He was a good shot and a damn fine soldier, don't get me wrong, and he weren't squeamish about killing if there were Nazis that needed killing. But he fought the war because he wanted to help people. Protect them, keep 'em safe."

"You said it, Dum Dum, you've said the absolute truth," Gabe says fervently, clapping him on the shoulder. "That's the kind of man Steve was, that's what he stood for, and that's what we should stand for too. A shield that protects. Always."

"An indestructible shield," Howard adds, covering Peggy's hand with his own. "Bulletproof."

Lorraine squeezes her other hand. "What do you think, sweetie?"

Blinking rapidly, she nods--and then shakes her head. "No, wait. We'll call it 'Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate'. Steve wouldn't be associated with an agency that called itself 'Supreme'."

Dum Dum grins broadly, then laughs, booming, "No, that boy never would! He'd kick my ass for suggesting it, make no mistake. Cap never put on no airs, no siree, and we loved him for it."

Howard pours another round of drinks. "Let's have a toast, shall we? To SHIELD, and to the future."

They raise their glasses and cry, "To SHIELD!"

"To Captain America, a real hero and a real good guy," Lorraine adds, throwing back the rest of her drink.

"To Cap!" cry Dum Dum and Gabe, their arms slung over each other's shoulders, boisterous and affectionate, like the brothers they are. 

If Peggy's smile is watery, Howard is gentleman enough not to mention it. "To absent friends," she says, clinking their glasses together. She lets the scotch sit on her tongue for a moment and pretends the burn of alcohol is the reason for her tears.

**Author's Note:**

> From the _Agents of SHIELD_ official trailer:
>
>>   
> **Agent Hill:** "What does 'SHIELD' stand for, Agent Ward?"  
>  **Agent Ward:** "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."  
>  **Agent Hill:** "And what does that mean to you?"  
>  **Agent Ward:** "Means someone really wanted our initials to spell out 'shield'."


End file.
